PROPHE Summary (by Prachayani
Praphamontripong):
Irish private colleges offer alternatives to students who could not
gain entry to traditional colleges. They offer various degree, diploma,
and certificate courses accredited by both national and international
agencies. Responding to market needs, such institutions continue to
offer attractive courses like law, business, accounting, marketing,
finance, event management, psychology, film and media, literature and
drama, journalism, interior architecture, and computing and design.
Some colleges partner with international education agencies to widen
their courses offered. Minimum requirements to take those courses vary
depending on each institution; however, they must include certification
in passing mathematics and English.
For the full story see Irish Independent, August 22, 2005, "Private
Colleges … Independent and Very Much in Demand."
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=50&si=1454495&issue_id=12896
The Irish case reviewed here contributes to the mounting evidence
that private higher education concentrates, internationally, in non-university
institutions and commercial fields of study, offering a second-choice
opportunity for those who fail to be admitted to public universities.
Ties with international actors are also common, to enlarge both breadth
and legitimacy. In the Irish case, as in many but far from all others,
the labor-market orientation must be seen in the context of fierce competition.
